Cochran County, TX Roof Snow Load - 5 psf
What ASCE 7 says about snow load in Cochran County
That's Cochran County's design roof snow load per ASCE 7-22, for a typical heated single-family home - the number a permit reviewer starts from. The physics-based figure alone would be 3.5 psf, but ASCE 7's own low-slope minimum (§7.3.4) sets a floor of 5 psf for flat and low-pitch roofs here, which is the number that actually governs.
Converted to something you can actually eyeball on a roof: about 11 in. of fresh powder, 4 in. once it settles and packs down, or just 1 in. if it's turned to ice. Standard residential construction handles a load this size without extra bracing; it is a modest addition on top of ordinary roof loading.
Cochran County in numbers
- Design roof snow load5 psf
- Ground snow load, ASCE 7 map5 psf
- National rank#2,454 of 2,758
- Texas rank#195 of 254
- Population2,583
- Annual snowfall, NOAA normal5.2 in.
- FIPS48079
Where Cochran County's figure sits nationally
Out of 2,758 rated US counties, Cochran County sits at #2,454, the top 89% nationally - #195 of 254 within Texas. 5.4 psf is Texas's typical county figure - Cochran County comes in 0.4 psf under it.
Near 33.6084°N 102.8304°W, FIPS 48079: Cochran County counts 2,583 residents and a 5 psf map value, which the code's own factors turn into 5 psf.
How much it actually snows in Cochran County
Most winters bring Cochran County roughly 5.2 in. of snow - NOAA's normal at ARCH, NM US, 39.8 mi off. 39.8 mi is a real gap between Cochran County and its nearest reporting station, so local snowfall can diverge from this figure, especially near elevation changes. (fresh vs. packed vs. ice explains why.)
Read this before you rely on it
Cochran County's number above is ASCE 7-22's default case, not a custom calculation: ordinary residential occupancy, heated, sited on ground that's neither fully sheltered nor fully exposed. Any one of those changing - pitch, exposure, heating, occupancy - moves the real figure.
Nothing here substitutes for an address-level number. Get one free, in about a minute, from the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool using your own coordinates rather than Cochran County's county-wide figure. (How this figure is calculated.)